Billie Holiday

'Billie Holiday' by Carlos Sampayo and José Muñoz is a graphic novel about the famous jazz singer. She didn't have a picturesque life, and this book doesn't flinch from that.

The book begins with an essay by Francis Marmande, a writer and journalist for Le Monde. The graphic novel has a framing story of a journalist doing a story on the 30th anniversary of Billie's death. What follows is not a complete story of her life, and it's certainly not a happy one. Billie had her own problems with drugs and men, and those are presented in an unflinching way. She was also discriminated against and faced racism in spite of her tremendous fame.

The book is drawn in stark black and white. The figures come across as caricatures with garishly drawn features. The incidents here are ugly and don't serve to put Billie Holiday in the best light. She had a hard life, and this book doesn't make any excuses for that. I appreciated the approach this graphic novel took.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Papercutz, NBM Publishing, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

A great biographical-graphic novel about Billie Holiday. With a strong art style.

Exploring this graphic novel was an interesting experience, as it shed light on such an iconic musical genius, while illustrating her resilience amid shadows of white supremacy, misogyny, etc.

I read this whilst listening to Billie Holiday sing like an angel. Such an amazing voice setting the backdrop for me to learn about her life in this absolutely stunning graphic biography.
Told as a story of a journalist writing an article about her to commemorate the anniversary of her death, it tells of her struggles with alcohol, drugs, men, the police and racism.
Parts of her story made me so sad, others angry. It is amazing that a person who had lived through so much could still find the strength to get on stage and sing like she did. It also partially explains how her voice was so full of feeling.
Until I read this, I had no idea about Billie Holiday as a person. I just knew the voice, that she had died relatively young, and the era she lived in would've made it difficult to be a beautiful talented black woman. This has really opened my eyes, and made me appreciate her talent even more.
Absolutely gorgeous to look at, really well told, I absolutely loved it.

Stark, sad, and full of beauty. Like early Art Spiegelman.

The introduction is interesting but the sarcasm does not really work. The artwork and the story showcase Billie's ups and downs. The artwork is very stark black and white, her story is not so simple. Told from the point of view of a reporter researching her life the story recounts her lows, arrests, drug addiction and highs, writing Strange Fruit

A stark and bleak rendering of events in the life of one of the greats, Billie Holiday. The graphics infuse and support the text, giving it deep expression and resonance. Haunting.
---Ronb